This article is meant for people concerned about the status of their copper nutrition and you use any information in this article at your own risk, and you should seek a second opinion from a competent medical or nutritional professional.

If I am correct in this, there should be very little of these strength of elastin tissue diseases such as aortic, abdominal, or thoracic aneurysm, hemorrhoids, and slipped disc among people who eat a lot of shellfish, especially USA east coast oysters [Mason p1998] or lots of leafy vegetables. Anemia, gray hair, magnesium derived depression [Zieba], and emphysema should also be less prevalent. Some of the advantage of east coast oysters may have disappeared now that the copper smelters have moved west to be near the mines. This is because shellfish use a copper pigment (hemocyanin) instead of iron to transport oxygen. Squid and sour bugs are included for this circumstance. Squid has a fairly large fraction of the copper in the skin. It may be that they use the skin for excretion because the skin also contains much of the cadmium [Gajewska]. Cadmium causes changes similar to a copper deficiency [Lefevre, et al] [Festa , et al]. Copper tends to mute the toxic effects of cadmium [Costanzo, et al] and silver [Underwood p72] as well as lead [Petering p320,321]. Even so, it is probably best not to eat the skin of squid. Oysters are very high in cadmium in some polluted areas however, and also have lead and arsenic. Shrimp can also have cadmium but I do not know if it is unacceptable. Shrimp is not an unusually good source of copper, but is of zinc.

The richest source of all is sheep liver, about two times cow liver and duck liver, and about ten times all other livers [*]. These other livers range from about 7 to 14 mg per pound.

Dog and cat foods are also high in copper because copper is added. I do not know precisely what the amounts per calorie are for them. However, they are probably a good source for poor people. People often feed their pets a single brand so, unlike human food, pet food suppliers dare not dispense poorly nutritious or poisoned food if they can help it. They do put various chemicals in though and fish by products. Tropical fish contain ciguatera toxin.

This ciguatera is a poison of many carbon rings generated by algae, which toxin can not be degraded by heat and which is thought to bind to sodium cell wall pumps. It remains in the body for a long time. It gives symptoms similar to chronic fatigue syndrome Mannitol has been proposed as a treatment [Karlin]. Since fish migrate and in addition are transported all over the world, eating oceanic fish (especially large reef fish) or pigs or chickens (it is said that chickens receive only 2% fishmeal) fed such fish may not be worth the risk even for healthy people (Tyson Inc. claims no use of fish). I suspect that cod-liver oil is safe since it is a northern fish. A recurrence of neurological symptoms may be brought on by consumption of alcohol (probably not the alcohol itself, but poisons associated with it) or certain foods such as other fish, fish-flavored food products, meat such as chicken and pork, and peanut butter or nut oils.

Spirulina seaweed is a very good source of copper. It contains six milligrams per 100 grams. Please keep in mind that seaweeds often contain arsenic and bromine. Seaweed is used primarily as a source of iodide. However iodide in pills is probably better than sea weed as a source of iodide because of the bromine and arsenic in seaweed, Seaweed has 22 milligrams of arsenic per 1000 grams in it, largely as organic compounds. Bromine is largely as organic compounds also. Between 0.2 to 1.0 milligrams per day of arsenic is ingested by the Japanese daily. Inorganic arsenic is a risk factor for liver cancer. However hijiki seaweed has only 0.3 milligrams per 1000 grams of arsenic as arsenate, the remainder being organic, which is only mildly toxic. The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued advice to consumers to avoid eating seaweeds.

Vegetables low in starch have about 1 mg per pound so are a pretty good source. Legumes have a range the same as most livers, per weight, as do some oil seeds. Whole cereal grains are about half this. Cereal grains from which the germ has been removed lose up to 45% of copper [Wapnir 1998 p1055s]. However do not be misled by these figures based on weight for food which contains no water. Foods containing water have to be multiplied by the inverse of the water content to be comparable, or better yet, compared on a Calorie content basis. (The USDA handbook #8 now contains copper values for many foods. Enter the food's name and touch "enter" and then divide the Kcal value into the copper value.) There are also links in it to PDF types of printouts from the table for individual nutrients available. Just click on the “A” or “W” button for the nutrient you desire. A table which gives copper and zinc per thousand Calories, is available at this site, as well as zinc/copper ratios.) A dried apricot has exactly the same mineral content as it had directly from the field, for instance. Leafy vegetables tend to be higher than starchy vegetables. Honey is very low, comparable to cow's milk [Lawler & Klevay]. Most people should be able to get enough copper from vegetables, but even herbivores can be deficient, possibly from interfering substances or poisons in some plants. As you can see from the above table, copper and zinc contents vary considerably in food.

Drinking water can contribute as much as 0.8 mg per day if it comes through copper pipes. Soft water and acid water contribute the largest amount [Sparrow, et al]. Copper bracelets are a rather ineffective remedy, but can have a small measurable effect on rheumatoid arthritis, especially in summer [Walker & Keats]. They probably would be a significant treatment if a dozen or so wide bracelets were worn in summer, especially if they were corroded. I suppose for people who refuse to gain copper any other way it would be better than no way. Copper as ceruloplasmin is high in the blood of rheumatoid arthritics [Zoli] [Louro] and this may be depleting copper by greater excretion through the bile. The reason why copper seemed to impact rheumatoid arthritis may be because a copper deficiency increases mast cells half again as much in rats [Schuschke], which in turn increases inflammation caused by histamine release as stimulated by the immune peptide hormones. Also vasculitis similar to poliarteritis nodosa (an artery blood vessel degeneration with fever, fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, and weight loss. Muscle and joint aches, skin rashes with swelling, ulcers, and lumps often also appear) can appear. It is the most potentially fatal of systemic complications in rheumatoid arthritis [Hollingsworth]. Poliarteritis nodosa itself is probably primarily affected by a potassium deficiency since potassium citrate was able to prevent arterial lesions in sodium chloride loaded hypertensive dahl rats without lowering the blood pressure.

I suspect that there will prove to be a strong negative correlation between acid water from copper pipes and aneurysms, slipped discs or hemorrhoids. Unfortunately there may also be a positive correlation with one of the forms of schizophrenia. It is also possible to get aneurysms from copper excess in those who have Wilson’s disease by an unknown mechanism. Wilson’s disease is a genetic disorder of the ceruloplasmin transport that makes it difficult to excrete copper all as discussed below.

MILK

The cardiovascular disease associated with high milk intake is probably primarily caused by its low copper content. The poorest unprocessed source is cow's milk. It contains one third of a milligram per thousand Calories, which will not support human life. This may be an adaptation to protect the mammary glands or the calf against microorganism growth. That this is the case is hinted at by virtue of the fact that zinc supplements reduce the time that diarrhea persists in children, since zinc interferes with copper absorption by the bacteria. Keep in mind that the best way to defeat diarrhea is to heat the abdomen as hot as possible with a heater pad or infra red light. This is because bacteria grow very poorly at high temperatures. Mammalian babies solve their copper problem with large stores in their liver placed there during pregnancy. Adults who eat large amounts of milk and cheese would be at great risk if they had no other good source of copper. Milk is the food scientists use when they wish to create a copper deficiency in animals. This low copper content is probably the cause of the large increase in cardiovascular disease which has been statistically associated with milk [Seely][Klevay 1974]. Milk is said to be a greater risk factor than smoking cigarettes. All the cheeses are included in this category. If its copper content is the main cause of its being a risk factor, to cope with the problem should prove to be very easy, just add copper into it or use supplements. Human and pig milk is much higher in copper than cow's milk, but still low. This somewhat higher copper in mother’s milk is another reason for using it if possible.

The necessity of dealing with this circumstance is no doubt the reason for the different handling of copper by women vs. men and the strong effect of female hormones on copper physiology. The lesser effects of copper supplements on women with arthritis, the much less rate of aneurysms among women, and the tendency for these differences to recede as women get older is probably related to that necessity. Copper supplements caused little changes in cardiovascular risk factors in young, healthy women even though they had been receiving marginal intakes [Bugel]. What little copper is in cow's milk must be primarily part of its cellular components. Human milk has 4 to 5 times as much copper as cow's milk and 20 - 25% of it is ceruloplasmin and ceruloplasmin is more easily absorbed than exchangeable copper [Linder]. Copper in cow’s milk is bound to casein, which casein is high in cow’s milk, and the copper has lower human digestibility. Milk’s copper is not affected by the mother’s copper intake [Lonnerdal 1998]. Copper must be virtually unavailable to most bacteria attempting to live in cow’s milk at first, and this may be the reason why female mammals evolved the ability to give their babies copper through liver storage rather than by milk content. Even so, human milk has 4 to 6 times (sic) more copper than cow's milk and is a third more available [Wapnir 1998 p1056s]. Perhaps this may be because cows have to depend on microorganisms to digest their food so they probably must prevent intestinal disease with more urgency.

While copper may be the primary cardiovascular problem with milk, because milk contains ten times as much calcium as magnesium, excessive milk consumption should contribute to a magnesium deficiency. This could easily contribute to heart problems because magnesium is necessary for potassium absorption. Potassium deficiency is an important cause of heart disease (infarction). This large ratio must be because of the calf’s need for calcium to form bones.

COPPER ENHANCEMENT

A preliminary report stated that methionine amino acid doubled the net absorption of copper in humans [Wapnir 1998 p1057s]. If this proves true, it would be another argument for getting some high quality protein such as meat or eggs at every meal. Another reason is that copper absorption tripled or more in the intestines in the presence of sodium [Wapnir 1987] so a small amount of table salt if meat is unobtainable should be in order during a meal. Sodium was stressed by that author, but I doubt if the chloride has been ruled out. If chloride is what is involved, potassium chloride would also be effective. Making bread by fermenting with sour dough yeast has been shown to increase the absorption of copper and zinc. Zinc absorption is greatly enhanced. Something in beer increases liver copper in rats and freedom from heart disease, which rats lived six times as long. The improvement was not due to beer’s copper content [Klevay and Moore]. Fruit’s citric, lactic, acetic, and malic acids content, which substances can make copper more soluble, may be the reason why fruits have been shown to improve copper retention [Wapnir 1998 p1058s] (You may see an extensive article on copper availability by Wapnir here). and apples have been shown to increase copper retention [Sable-Amplis].

However, fructose (corn syrup) and sucrose sugar in fruit apparently produces a much greater need for copper once in the body [Reiser]. In rats fed copper-deficient diets with fructose or sucrose, there was marked, mostly ventricular, hypertrophy, and mild to severe myocardial inflammation, degeneration, and fibrosis. Aneurysm of the left ventricle and pericarditis also were common [Redman]. Gaining carbohydrate in the form of sucrose or fructose will more than triple the mortality from ruptures in the top of the heart in copper deficient rats [Reiser]. Using pure fructose (corn syrup) and sucrose for sweetening is dangerous. The rise of lipids such as cholesterol in the blood does not occur during a copper deficiency if starch is the source of calories, even in the presence of high dietary fat [Fields & Lewis]. It must be that fructose is converted using a copper catalyzed enzyme. Eating sparsely of fruit sugars would seem to be a good idea. Actually, most of the fructose that processors use is synthesized from corn starch and has no nourishment at all in it.

The minimum daily requirement must then be partly a function of the status of one's other nutrition. I feel that it should be possible for most people to receive enough copper in an unprocessed varied diet even if all the above interferences are present in reasonable amounts, although I know of no research which establishes this. Someone who is receiving marginal amounts of copper or has deficiency symptoms, however, appears to me to be in grave danger if even a few of the above interferences are present. It may be prudent to cut back on most if not all of them until the matter is resolved especially if any copper deficiency symptoms are present or the diet is high in milk. Attention to such matters would be especially important in the elderly in America because they are especially low in copper [Ma] and have a lower caloric intake as a rule besides. A site is available which shows foods which are high in one nutrient and low in another (including calories). This last site should be especially useful for a quick list of foods to consider first, for comparing to interfering nutrients, or for those who must restrict another nutrient.

COPPER TOXICITY

Too much copper is toxic. Acute symptoms of copper poisoning by ingestion include vomiting, hematemesis (vomiting of blood), hypotension (low blood pressure), melena (black "tarry" feces), coma, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of the skin), and gastrointestinal distress.Individuals with glucose-6-phosphate deficiency may be at increased risk of hematologic effects of copper. Hemolytic anemia resulting from the treatment of burns with copper compounds is infrequent [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity ].
Chronic (long-term) effects of copper exposure can damage the liver and kidneysThe amounts showing acute toxicity are large because the liver can store large amounts. The chance that toxicity would appear quickly is extremely small. A man-sized pig must receive over 200 mg at one time to show obvious acute signs [Higgins]. About ten times this amount used to be a prevalent way to commit suicide in Bombay, India [Singh]. Cadmium causes a great increase of cellular copper toxicity [Steinebach]. An epidemiological survey in France showed that a high serum copper associated with low serum zinc or magnesium caused 30 to 40% increase in mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease in men [Leone]. They must use much copper plumbing in France. Only one % of people drinking water from public utilities in the USA drink water with more than 1.3 milligrams per liter. No one gets water with more than 2 milligrams per liter. Copper plumbing and acid water can deliver ominous amounts of copper, at least ominous for people who drink large amounts of water and babies who use dry formula, although copper plumbing is usually desirable. It has been proposed that under 0.3 mg per liter of water will adequately protect infants and adults from toxicity and will furnish 26% of the RDR [Sidhi]. This does not seem nearly adequate enough to correct an otherwise low copper intake in adults to me. If acid water is delivering toxic amounts though, installing a PVC or iron pipe between the source and the kitchen should solve the problem. I installed an iron pipe to the kitchen early in my life and it helped create a copper deficiency in me. So be sure your water is delivering too much copper before you do so. If copper pipes are used they should be connected with lead free solder for that part of the system. If this is impractical, running the water until water in the pipes is displaced after the pipes have been inactive for awhile, say over night, should greatly reduce any lead toxicity, which itself is probably low in any case.

Copper does not interfere with zinc as badly as zinc interferes with copper [Cheek] but it does interfere. I suspect that swelling of prostrate tissue via a zinc deficiency accounts for some of the above symptoms by interfering with bladder emptying. A zinc deficiency may be connected to swollen prostate tissue, since zinc inhibits prostate growth [Falim]. Prostate tissue has the highest level of zinc of any organ. Much of this is in the mitochondria where it allows greater secretion of citrate. Something about this must be related to the swelling of prostate tissue by a zinc deficiency.

While copper supplements during a zinc deficiency can be dangerous, too little zinc during a copper deficiency is even more damaging for some enzymes than too much. Presumably those enzymes which contain both zinc and copper are the ones involved, but not necessarily.

It has been proposed that increased copper intake by menstruating women can exaggerate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) by virtue of interfering with zinc. An excerpt from Johnson’s article is as follows; “The low Zn (zinc) levels result in deficient CuZnSuperoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), which in turn leads to increased levels of superoxide. {Superoxide stimulates migration of white blood cells and chemo tactic factor [Petrone]. So superoxide may intensify inflammation.} Menstruating females also often present with low magnesium (Mg) and vitamin B6 levels. Vitamin B6 moderates intracellular nitric oxide (NO) production and extracellular Mg is required for NO release from the cell, so that a deficiency of these nutrients results in increased NO production in the cell and reduced release from the cell. The trapped NO combines with superoxide to form peroxinitrite, an extremely powerful free radical that leads to the myelin damage of MS (multiple scelerosis). Iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo) and cadmium (Cd) accumulation also increase superoxide production. This explains MS in males, who tend to accumulate Fe much faster and Cu much less rapidly than females. Since vitamin D is paramount for Mg absorption, the much-reduced exposure to sunlight in the higher latitudes may account for the higher incidence of MS in these areas. Moreover, vitamin B-2 is a cofactor for xanthine oxidase, and its deficiency exacerbates the low levels of uric acid caused by high Cu levels, resulting in myelin (fatty sheath of the nerves) degeneration. Finally Selenium (Se) and vitamin E prevent lipid peroxidation and EPA and DHA decreases CuZnSOD. Therefore, supplementation with 100 mg of magnesium, 25 mg vitamin B6, 10 mg vitamin B2, 15 mg zinc and 400 IU vitamin D and E, 100 units of selenium, 180 mg EPA and 120 mg DHA per day between 14 and 16 years of age may prevent MS” [Johnson 2000]. The selenium would be additionally in order since a selenium deficiency exaggerates a copper toxicity [Seffner].

Obstruction of the bile or gall bladder ducts is said to be able to cause copper toxicity [Beshgetoor] probably because this is the excretory path.

GENETIC TOXICITY

Some members of society are or may be at great risk from copper toxicity. People who have Wilson's disease (p81-90) (a genetic inability to synthesize ceruloplasmin because of the gene that forms the copper chaperone ATP7B), one of the three most common forms of schizophrenia [Pfeiffer], and babies head the list.

Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) has been used to prevent copper absorption during Wilson’s disease. For some reason schizophrenia and rheumatoid arthritis seldom occur in the same person while a group of ankylosing spondilitis patients almost all had schizophrenia or an atypical psychosis [Osterberg 1978]. For a discussion of the possible use of vitamin B-3 for healing schizophrenia see this site. The toxicity in that form of schizophrenia is thought to operate primarily through copper’s affect on a zinc deficiency. So zinc and manganese supplements were suggested as a remedy [Pfeiffer, 1972, p163]. Diabetics are more efficient at absorbing copper [Craft], as already mentioned, and may have a narrow safe range. However, the pancreas can be irreversibly destroyed by a copper deficiency in rats inside a few months, but the isles of Langerhan are not affected [Smith, et al 1982] [Fell]. Even so, there is somewhat of negative correlation between copper in drinking water and onset of juvenile diabetes [Zhao]. I suspect that this is a result of a synergism of a copper deficiency with capsaicin poison in chili pepper (see two paragraphs down). In cases of juvenile diabetes, there were lower than normal levels of reduced glutathione, ceruloplasmin oxidase activity, zinc, copper and sodium, while the other elements show no significant changes [Awadallah]. So it is possible that people with partial destruction of their beta cells could cut back on their medication with proper nutrition.

COPPER AND DIABETES

It is possible that adequate copper could help prevent insulin dependant diabetes since it does so for ATZ poisoned mice [Sitasawad] and copper in drinking water has somewhat of a protective affect [Zhao]. It could be that copper produces its effects through super oxidase dismutase because it has been shown that the antioxidant metalloporphyrin-based superoxide dismutase (SOD) can prevent or delay the onset of the so called autoimmune cascade in diabetes, using mice as subjects. [Haskins].

It is conceivable that copper deficiency can help cause type I diabetes by way of a synergism with capsaicin poison in chili peppers [Weber 2008]. I propose that capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) in chili peppers may be one of the poisons involved in producing insulin dependant diabetes. The fact that Hispanics, who have a much higher diabetes rate than Anglicans, eat more chili than Anglicans supports this. I have a suspicion that capsaicin may be exerting part of its affect, if it is having this affect, by inhibiting one of the copper enzymes. However copper deficiency has no direct affect on the isles of Langerhan since it destroys the pancreas but not the isles, as mentioned above, so it must exert its affect, if it does, by synergism with something else, possibly capsaicin.

Copper is crucial for growth of blood vessels (angiogenesis). Therefore excessive copper takes on some of the aspects of toxicity when afflicted by cancer. Metastatic solid tumors have been arrested in several different types of cancer by inducing an artificial copper deficiency using tetrathiomolybdate (TM) [Brewer, et al]. Serum ceruloplasmin was used as a marker for total body copper. The procedure worked because copper is a required cofactor for the function of many key mediators of blood vessel growth, such as basic fibroblast (a cell group that gives rise to connective tissue) growth factor, vascular endothelial (lining of the blood vessels and lymph) growth factor, and angiogenin,
Because anemia is the first clinical sign of copper deficiency, the goal of the study was to reduce ceruloplasmin to 20% of baseline value without reducing hematocrit below 80% of baseline. Brewer, et al [Brewer, et al] felt that ceruloplasmin is a reliable and sensitive measure of copper status at 20% and above, and tetrathiomolybdate was nontoxic when ceruloplasmin was reduced to 15-20% of baseline. However ceruloplasmin is not reliable when there is inflammation, infection or after surgery because ceruloplasmin makes up 80-90% of the blood’s copper or more. Ceruloplasmin content can be correlated with C-reactive protein (p69). C-reactive protein will rise 10 to 100 fold within 48 hours of infection or injury. Most of the enzyme systems other than growth factors were not degraded excessively. No exacerbation of toxicity was obvious by the addition of interferon alpha to the tetrathiomolybdate treatment in one of the patients. This procedure would probably work for other copper toxic conditions also, and was originally used to solve toxicity during Wilson’s syndrome. See this site for sources of tetrathiomolybdate, physician’s liability, and discussion with regard to Hodgkin’s syndrome. This may prove to be a good strategy to buy time until interferon, naltrexone, or other low side affect strategies can take hold (see discussion of naltrexone at the end).

Supplements or copper rich foods should be used for babies with extreme care, as should be formula made from water out of copper plumbing (which can contribute 0.8 mg per day to adult intake [Delves HT]), or brass pots (which have harmed American Indian children [Bremner p45]), because babies can not excrete copper. Nursing babies would be even a little more at risk from supplements since mother's milk contains five times cow's milk [Delves p7]. Babies have 19 mg total copper at term, half in the liver [Klevay 1996 p2424] or more. New borne babies have 230 PPM (parts per million) in the liver, which compares to 35 PPM in an adult. It must be obvious that even 2 mg per day would overwhelm a baby in a short time if continued. Copper absorption is proportional to intake from breast milk and formula (in rats), which formula is up to 10 times the amount in breast milk [Lonnerdal 1998 p1048s], although babies can tolerate a fairly high oversupply of copper beyond the above (Lonnerdal 1998 p1051s], so they must have a mechanism for retarding absorption through the intestines during excess. Mason says that infants should get 0.05 milligrams/kilogram of body weight per day and premature infants should get 0.09 milligrams/100 Kcal [Mason p1998]. Cordano recommends between 0.42 and 0.135 milligrams [Cordano 1998]. That last may be too high.

Two mg per day has been recommended for copper deficient babies, but I suspect this is much too high if maintained. Premature babies are usually born with too small a liver reserve to get safely past the nursing period, but one must use care with supplements. 0.09 mg per 100 Kcal has been recommended [Mason p2028]. I suspect that a seat of the pants criteria for such babies would be little more totally that is known to be absorbed from the particular source than the amount in the liver of normal babies above and beyond the amount they otherwise would receive in their mother's milk. Perhaps half again as much would be reasonably safe. Normal should probably be two or three times as much per body weight as adults require or about 0.08 mg/Kg. and 0.04 for toddlers. Perhaps that ratio should be less for very fat babies. A full term baby has 230 milligrams per kilogram of liver of copper in its liver, or 105 mg per pound of liver [Dorea]. A full term baby goes from 2.5 milligrams to 9.5 milligrams total in its liver during the last 10-12 weeks of pregnancy [Cordano 1998]. I know of no reasonable way to determine clinically how much it actually contains although modern ultra sound devices should be able at least to determine liver size. Mason says that infants should get 0.05 mg/Kg per day and premature infants should get 0.09 mg/100 Kcal [Mason p1998]. I do not know at what age they can start to excrete copper. However they are said to have an adult like liver in two years [Evans 1973b] and their serum levels increase to near adult levels in one month (4-6 months for preterm babies) [Lonnerdal 1996]. All these problems of too much and too little are more arguments for using mother's milk if at all possible. Babies are very important so it would be a good idea to throw as much light on problems of infancy as possible. At the end of the 19th century when my grandfather acquired my father his doctor prescribed evaporated milk. My father did very poorly so my grandfather switched to fresh cow's milk. Later he met the doctor on the street and asked about the doctor's baby. The doctor replied "I am saddened to say that my baby died". It was probably from scurvy (lack of vitamin C) in that case, but in any case we dare not give our babies just anything with no thought. We had better know as much as possible. A survey of infant formulas and ready to eat cereals disclosed that 25% contained no copper and non of the ready to eat cereal had copper or manganese even though half of them had more than 25% of the RDR for iron and zinc [Johnson]. They can not all have been correct. We would be wise to perform research to determine the best strategy as soon as possible.

Of course it is essential that the mother receive sufficient copper before the baby is born. If she does not, birth defects can often materialize, which can persist into adult life. Fructose sugar, alcohol, silver, diarrhea, and diabetes can make the matter worse [Cordano 1998]. Older children probably are similar to adults in their handling of copper and should probably receive an amount about proportional to their weight (but I know of no long-term study). A 2.5-milligram per day supplement was given to a copper deficient child. It took 5 days for serum free copper to return to normal, 2 weeks for ceruloplasmin and neutrophils [Cordeno 1998].

COPPER STATUS TESTS

Red blood cell superoxide dismutase has been proposed as a good criterion of copper status in rats [Feller, et al]. However, blood cells maintain their copper as much as 15 weeks into a deficiency before dropping [Milne 1998]. Platelet cytochrome C oxidase is not sensitive to factors other than copper and blood platelet activity is said to be the most sensitive indicator [Milne 1996].

Liver biopsies are impractical but would be the best way if they were available [Klevay & Madeiros, 196, p2423S]. Kidney biopsies may prove to be just as indicative since their copper turnover is higher than liver (66% in the few weeks measured) [Levenson]. Brain and heart biopsies would be useless since their turnovers were 1% and 3% respectively [Levenson].

Hair analysis is ambiguous, does not change much [Danks p222][Hambridge], and subject to contamination. People with white hair have lower copper content than those with colored hair [Bertazzo] although old people will be often white haired even if their copper is adequate.

Marginal copper deficits do not change serum copper, or tissue copper-zinc superoxide dismutase enzyme even though ultra structural alterations in the heart, reduced copper in the brain, markedly decreased IL-2 production, and reduced immune function appear [Hopkins & Failla]. Serum contents of copper are not a reliable indicator since infections, emotional stress, and possibly potassium deficiency have an overriding effect. If the plasma copper is less than 12 millionth of a mole, though, a deficiency is highly likely.

It is said that one can get an indication of a zinc deficiency by a taste test of a dilute zinc solution. I can not vouch for this. However it is known that a zinc deficiency reduces taste acuity.

COPPER IN DISEASE STATES

Copper combined with a wide range of chelating agents have been recommended for rheumatoid arthritis [Sorenson & Hangarter]. Iwatsuki et al found that blood pressure was decreased in a deficiency [Iwatsuki et al]. However, it has been suggested that reduction of blood pressure during a deficiency was because weanling rats were used in the experiments and that it was due to destruction of mitochondria [Klevay 1987], and that copper deficiency raises blood pressure in mature animals [Klevay & Hales]. There is no affect on supine animals [Lukaski]. It has been suggested that low dietary intakes of vitamin C, folic acid and zinc emerged as the possible risk factors for hypertension. Also chloride, not sodium, accentuates hypertension. Sodium alone causes blood pressure to fall in salt sensitive people [McCarty 2004]. Further, lower levels of plasma vitamin C, erythrocyte membrane zinc and ceruloplasmin were found to be the putative intermediary biomarkers in pathogenesis of hypertension [Chiplonkar]. Since ceruloplasmin was involved as a negative correlation in those lacto vegetarians in his study, copper must be also.
Until the matter is established for sure, prudence might suggest reasonable supplements of no more than 4 milligrams per day to bring the total to 5 or 6 and in any case, no more than 8 milligrams supplement. Moderation is seldom disadvantageous in biological matters. Elastin has a fairly high turnover rate [Robert] and lysyl oxidase has a half-life of only 16 hours [Siegel]. Restoration of elastin is near normal by 3-4 days after copper has been restored in chicks [Tinker] so cross linking must be rapid even if turnover is not. However strengthening is hardly instantaneous. My own experience as a young man leads me to suspect one must allow at least a week for sure significant strengthening of the whole tissue. A normal body contains about 100 mg of copper [Turnlund, 1998], so even someone containing only half of normal should be able to correct a deficiency in a reasonable time with a total intake no more than 10 mg per day (8 mg supplement or so for a junk food diet) because at least 30% should be absorbed, but cutting intake back to no more than 4 or 5 milligrams or so total [Osterberg 1980 pp. 135, 142] upon repletion and making sure that seven times as much zinc is taken with the supplement dose at least when a routine intake is established. I suspect it is preferable if the zinc is imbibed at a different meal than the copper. In animal experiments adequate intake may be 5 to 10 times as high as intakes which cause deficiencies [Klevay & Madeiros 1996 p2422S]. More than 6 mg per day routinely is said not to be effective because per cent absorption becomes very low after that amount [Wapnir 1998 p1055s][Turnlund & Keyes]. Absorption is linear up to about 6 mg per day if values from experiments on rats scaled up are indicative [Marceau] and increasingly less percentages are absorbed after that. If the supplement is copper oxide it may be that the above supplement figures should be doubled because copper as the oxide has only half the bio availability in sheep and almost none in chicks [Wapnir 1998 p1055s] although little difference was found in rats [Shah]. Rats should be closest t our physiology. Copper oxide availability should be determined for humans. Milne found that 2.6 milligrams per day of copper could not recover a deficit in 40 days while 3 to 6 mg per day did it in about 30 days [Milne] so the recommended daily requirement should be at least 3.0 instead of the current 2.0. [Turnlund & Costa]. If mice are fed the amount of copper equivalent to the 0.9 milligrams per day recommended for humans and subjected to continuous emotional stress, their heart enlarges and they have heart failure after a few months. If they are given copper equivalent to 3 milligrams per day for humans, after a month the enlargement and heart failure do not appear [Jiang]. Low copper does not produce cardiac abnormalities alone, but requires high fructose or zinc [Blathena & Werman]. If you take coumadin to prevent blood clots, it is crucial that you receive enough copper. I lost a close relative from a bleeding brain blood vessel who was taking coumadin and zinc supplements but no copper. It is said that lysyl oxidase activity is directly proportional to copper in the diet [Rucker, et al 1998], so it may be necessary to eat copper continuously.

If supplements are in order and you are plagued by water infected by diarrhea germs, putting a milligram or so in each gallon of water is probably a good idea. But of course do not drink the water after actually being infected. Bacteria are killed within 48 hours of immersion in such water. Storing the water in brass receptacles will also kill the germs, but will provide only a third as much copper.

It is possible that growth of funguses is enhanced by free copper. Growth of funguses on skin is enhanced by externally applied copper [personal experience]. That large amounts of copper can be toxic should definitely not make one reluctant to use reasonable copper supplements if you are not in one of the copper genetically abnormal groups mentioned above. For normal people on a marginal diet I suspect that a supplement of 2 to 4 mg per day would be adequate and very desirable. I suspect that amounts 2 or 3 times this would have little or no adverse affect if seven times as much zinc is taken at the same time, but I know of no experiments and am not sure of interferences other than on zinc and maybe molybdenum. Healthy people eating unprocessed food devoid of milk and in an active life probably usually need no supplements or extra liver. However if you have a slow healing spinal disk, varicose veins, shaving cuts, hemorrhoids, graying hair, emphysema, or high cholesterol, I would warmly recommend at the very least considering eating liver and more vegetables. Elastin tissue diseases are extremely dangerous and lethal, and other copper deficiency diseases can be soul quenching.

EFFECT ON SOCIETY

The degenerative diseases mentioned above (aneurysms, slipped disc, hemorrhoids, emphysema, arthritis) are among the most destructive, painful, and numerous in our society. Four to six of 100 Americans autopsied died of a ruptured aneurysm. 3.6 to 6 percent of those examined had unruptured brain aneurysms [Renkel]. Each year, 16,000 Americans die due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Of the 200,000 strokes that occur each year in the USA, 20% are aneurysms in the brain. If copper status is the most important parameter affecting them, as I suspect (aneurysms are produced in turkeys by depleting copper [Guenther] ), increasing copper intake should have a dramatic effect on our collective health. That copper is below optimum in a large number of people is virtually certain from current evidence. Polish people average 30% below the RDR (recommended daily requirement) from food [Pietruska] and 70% of Japanese are below the MDR (minimum daily requirement) [Otsuki] (I do not know what standards they used). Keep in mind that the MDR is no doubt too low to start with, as is the RDR. Young adult American women average 1.16 mg per day [Murphy] and men about 1.5. The difference between the sexes is no doubt primarily due to women eating less food than men. People in Belgium average 1.5 +/- 0.4 mg per day. Adolescent males, both incarcerated and free, are below the RDA [Gans] which has been set at 2.0. Porto Rican school lunches are below the federal RDR [Preston]. Hemodialysis patients have low copper and zinc serum levels [Komindr]. Even so, a full blown copper deficiency takes several months to develop in people with an injured digestive system, much longer than for zinc. This is because the liver stores large amounts of copper (p68). People vary considerably in their genetic makeup, and there are several dozen enzymes and hormones containing or affecting copper, so it should not be surprising that the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (which is probably primarily a potassium deficiency, or at least strongly affected by one) and the other diseases above should vary greatly or that "spontaneous" remissions are possible. When you further consider that other nutrients and circumstances also vary enormously, at least for those eating processed food, it is not safe to assume that copper is not deficient because all the symptoms are not present. Any symptom should trigger consideration of increased intake from some source.

CLINICAL STRATEGIES

It seems to me that injections of GRMF and interleukin-1 along with other hormones secreted by T-cells would be of considerable value in fighting AIDS if done right. Small amounts injected every ten minutes or so would be the only efficacious way since the half-life of the protein peptide hormones is usually low, as little as 6 minutes in the case of cachectin. [Hall & Goldstein]. If T-cells prove to be responsible for mobilizing copper but the hormone can not be isolated, I would suspect that ceruloplasmin should be injected also but its long half-life would seem to make unnecessary frequent injections. So if T cells are so involved, ceruloplasmin injections may be in order for AIDS patients and maybe prove advantageous during infections even in normal people. In view of the low copper in the serum of people on hemodialysis mentioned above, it may be that ceruloplasmin should be added to their blood as being the safest way. If secretion of immune hormones responsible for removing cancer in the body such as the synergism which has been demonstrated between interferon and cachectin (tumor necrosis factor) for melanoma cancer [Poehlein], interferon gamma interferon and cachectin for breast cancer [Comes] prove to be dependent on copper for maximum production, ceruloplasmin injections may prove to be in order for people who refuse to eat copper in addition to injections of those hormones. However, this would be very disadvantageous for liver cancer as developed above, and maybe for some other cancer types. This would have to be weighed against the enhanced growth of blood vessels by adequate copper. If injections of these peptide hormones are the only way to resolve the situation many small injections are the way it should be done. Massive injections once a day, such as are currently used, are both ineffective and moderately dangerous. Frequent injections may seem irritating to the patient and unprofitable to the medical profession, but the main consideration is to get rid of the disease. When the hormone massively injected is insulin, wild swings in other hormones are also created, notably 18 hydroxy deoxycorticosterone (probably a hormone used to stimulate excretion of the acid hydrogen ion) and probably cortisol also. It is possible that diabetics subjected to such drastic swings have the disadvantages of some of the worst effects of both the high and low states, especially in the case of cortisol. It may be the source of some of the health problems that diabetics are afflicted with.

I would also suspect that if strains of bacterial diarrheas could be developed altered genetically to be devoid of their ability to synthesize the c-AMP stimulating enterotoxin and encapsulated in an enteric tablet in overwhelming numbers in order to avoid destruction by stomach acids, it might be possible to prevent most of the potassium loss implied in those diseases by competition of the mutant strain with wild cholera and thus not be hung solely on the cortisol system and ORT salts to survive. It might also prove to prevent the disease during an epidemic. When the patient goes back to eating food again, it might be a good idea to start with foods low in copper such as milk and honey, and of course Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT salts) is in order right from the start, which include potassium, which last is now usually done. If copper is low, ceruloplasmin injections would probably be the best way to solve the problem of using low copper foods, but I know of no information on this. Zinc supplements have been found to help heal diarrhea [Altaf]. It could be that part of this zinc advantage is by virtue of interference of copper absorption by the bacteria. If so, this would be further evidence that copper supplements or high in copper foods should not be used during diarrhea.

The health of people in the USA is abysmal (numerous statistics), and a major part of it is poor nutrition. Those who don't smoke, eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily, exercise regularly and maintain a normal weight account for ONLY 3 PERCENT of the adult population in the United States, according to the report in the April 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
As the 12th century physician, trying to cure by diet before he administers drugs, said; “No illness that can be treated by diet should be treated by any other means" or as Hippocrates expressed it in 460 - 377BC; "If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health." It would seem that a healthy life style has been known for a long time. Implimenting it is long over due.

Also it has been found that curcumin in turmeric or curry powder will inhibit several forms of cancer, including melanoma. People who live in India where these spices are eaten, have one tenth the cancer elsewhere. It must be used with caution because it can sometimes aggravate the situation [Stix].

There is strong evidence that taurine could have beneficial affects on type I diabetes, and could reduce organ peroxidation and plasma lipids. The retina, lens, and nerves respond better to taurine than other organs [Franconi]. Taurine has been used
for high blood pressure [Fujita], migraine headache (I suspect that less than 1000 milligrams can remove the headache caused by allergy to peanuts and other nuts), high cholesterol, epilepsy, macular degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, liver disorders, alcoholism, and cystic fibrosis, and depression. Keep in mind that some people may have a genetic defect that limits the amount of taurine tolerated and that adequate molybdenum may desirable. Taurine may make a copper deficiency worse, based on a single case history [Brien Quirk, private communication]. This may be because taurine may be mobilizing copper and zinc into the plasma [Li]. So if you should decide to take taurine, make sure your copper intake is more than adequate, as well as your zinc. Taurine may be obtaind from health food stores as capsules.

The author, Charles Weber, has a degree in chemistry and a masters degree in soil science. He has researched copper for over 40 years, primarily a library research. He has cured his own slipped disc and other symptoms with copper supplement. He has published articles on allied subjects in; The Journal of Theoretical Biology (1970, 1983), The Journal of Applied Nutrition (1974), Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology (1983), and Medical Hypotheses (1984, 1999, 2007, 2008).

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